Nicholas Reimann

Judy Bunkall
Biology Lab 1615
April 6, 2016
Research Article Summary
Introduction
During this course, we were to read and analyze a research that
scientist had done. The one I choose to do was on study of a fungus
(Colletotrichum acutatum) on blueberry bushes. Scientist were trying to
figure out why this symptomless fungus was able to survive on symptomless
tissue such as shoot bark and bud scales from the blueberry bushes.
Prior to the research, the knowledge that scientist already had about
this specific fungus was that this fungus was found in various regions worldwide and that it caused symptoms to the bushes but did not spread to other
bushes. They also knew that the fungus survived on mummified fruits, inside
the blueberry bushes and in dead tissues of the bushes during the winter.
Scientist studied and researched this topic because there was not a lot of
studies on the detection and dynamics in blueberry bushes and how they
were able to survive.
Materials and Methods

First the scientist started out with gathering shoot tips along with 3-6
flower buds that had grown in the previous year and separated them into
groups. The groups were bark, xylem and flower buds. This was done using
sterilized scissors. The bark and xylem were then cut up into 33-70 and 1516 small segments. They were then surfaced sterilized with 70% ethanol and
then transferred to a petri dish with a potato dextrose agar (PDA). Two or
three leaves and ten flowers were collected from the shoots as well and they
were placed in the potato dextrose agar after being cut into 34-63 segments.
Most of the segments were sterilized with the same ethanol and then the
rest of them were not. They were all then placed in petri dishes.
After all of the segments were in petri dishes, five microliters of a
streptomycin solution were dropped onto each segment to help prevent
bacteria growth. The plates were then placed in a 20-degree Celsius
environment 4-7 days.
Results
The isolation of Colletotrichum acutatum from diseased bushes was
examined first. The shoots and buds were separated from the fungus in the
winter and it tended to restrict certain and particular tissues within the
bushes organs. The fungus was only found in the bark of the bushes.
Periodic isolation of Colletotrichum acutatum from neighboring
symptomless bushes was evaluated next. The fungus was isolated for a
period of 6 months from the shoots, leaves and flower buds. Inoculation test

were done and showed that after 10 days there were lesions of similar size
on the leaves.
Genotypic diversity of Colletotrichum acutatum isolates from bushes
was the following experiment. There were three different controls that were
isolated and showed different banding patterns that differed from the
isolates from the experimental bushes and grafted seedlings.
Susceptibility of leave from various blueberry cultivars to
Colletotrichum acutatum. Bush A had grown lesions but bush F and G had
lesions that were significantly smaller.
Discussion
What was the final result of this experiment was that the isolation of
the fungus from naturally diseased bushes during the winter indicated that
this pathogen overwinters in several organs in the blueberry bushes. The
fungus best survives in or on the twigs, fruit tissue and living buds from the
bush. There was a detection of fungus on the bark, healthy shoots and only

Cited works
Yoshida, S., T. Tsukiboshi, H. Shinohara, M. Koitabashi, and S. Tsushima.
"Occurrence and Development of Colletotrichum Acutatum on Symptomless Blueberry
Bushes." Plant Pathology 56.5 (2007): 871-77. Print